It is a common practice to solder the pin portions of electrical connectors to circuit paths in or on circuit boards, such connectors frequently including sockets integrally formed with such pins facilitating components or other connectors to be plugged into the circuits formed in or on the circuit boards. Various prior art practices have included the provision of the proper volume of solder in the form of slugs or rings physically attached to a given connector pin in a position so that upon the application of sufficient heat the solder will reflow onto a circuit path or down within an aperture in a circuit board mechanically and electrically joining the pin to the circuit path. Alternatively, solder rings have been placed upon a circuit board with a connector fitted into the apertures of such board through such solder rings and a subsequent reflow to effect an interconnection therebetween. In both instances aforementioned, the preforming of an appropriate solder ring and its physical handling and attachment either to the connector pin or to the board in a one at a time repetitive assembly operation has been employed. With large numbers of pins to be interconnected and with the opportunity for missing one or more pins, or having solder rings accidentally displaced, the foregoing practice risks ruining an entire connector and circuit board or at least requiring a desoldering of the connector and board to repair the mistake.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a solder plate assembly and method facilitating multiple interconnection of connector pins to circuit board circuits.
It is a further object to provide an assembly containing arrays of solder rings so affixed thereto so as to preclude accidental displacement or loss and to thereby assure the presence of solder at each desired site relative to connector pin arrays and circuit board circuits.
It is still a further object to provide a method for making solder joints that includes simultaneously casting multiple solder rings into a solder plate assembly so designed to retain such rings in position for assembly to a connector having pins projecting therefrom.